Why is the Orthodox Church so powerful in this country? Or is it? Whatever we say, the fact is that here, in Sakartvelo, the Church happens to be the nation’s most trusted and distinctively grand religious institution, a national symbol and a major social actor. Its magnetic attractiveness is overwhelming, which makes Christian faith more important than any other form of spiritual indoctrination, the majority of the Georgian people being into Orthodox belief: about 85 percent of the entire population. Respectfully, there are other substantial religious communities in the land, like Muslim, Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and those with no religion.
The Church is often trusted more than a legislative body, political powers, a governing force, or the judiciary. And this influence is not restricted just to worship. It is reflected in public discussions about education, family, morality, national identity, and even politics, albeit its impact is not unlimited: urbanization, globalization, digitalization, higher education, migration, and all sorts of other transformations have all augmented the diversity of views within Georgian society, creating a considerable sector of non-believers.
And yet, for many of us, faith is not only plain spirituality, but it is tightly associated with national identity because, historically, our little Sakartvelo experienced centuries of invasions and foreign domination, and it was the Orthodox Church that managed to turn itself into a sanctuary for keeping up the native tongue, historical memory, spiritual values, cultural traditions, and sense of political continuity. Hence, the notable significance of the Orthodox Church in our everyday lives!
Apropos of the word orthodox – how fair, relevant, and compatible is this English translation of the Georgian word მართლმადიდებელი (martlmadidebeli)? It is often thought that translation is not as expressive and persuasive as the actual name of our Church. To answer the question by means of elucidating this fascinating linguistic point, let’s try to parse the word accordingly: მართალი (martali): true, righteous, correct; დიდება (dideba): glory, praise. Thus, მართლმადიდებელი is “the one who glorifies or rightly praises.”
Meanwhile, the English word Orthodox comes from Greek: orthos – straight, correct; doxa – opinion, belief, glory, worship. So, let’s assume that Orthodox Faith would mean ‘correct belief’ and ‘right worship.’
By the way, the Georgian word მართლმადიდებელი is a word-by-word translation of the Russian word Православной, which seems to be much more eloquent than the word orthodox. To feel better about this fortuitously established inaccurate translation, let us assume that the Georgian term is therefore not a mistranslation, but emphasizes ‘right glorification’ or ‘righteous praise’ rather than the actual content of the borrowed Greek word.
The thing is that the English language has long used the established term Orthodox for this family of churches, but this seems to be only a matter of translation technique and philosophy.
The Georgian Orthodox Church is one of the world’s oldest Christian churches, along with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Mount Athos, and the Greek, Russian, Serbian, and Romanian churches, and has a rich theological, liturgical, and monastic tradition. Yet, notwithstanding its huge clout on our society, its contribution to world Christendom in general and Orthodoxy in particular often remained less well-known internationally than those larger Orthodox centers due to Georgia’s relatively small population, its geographic location, language barrier, and limited international influence.
At the same time, the significance of the Church has never diminished in Sakartvelo, not even under the severely ruling Soviet atheism, which took place because several historical factors came together: Georgia adopted Christianity as early as the 4th century, which helped preserve national literacy and culture; while dominated by Persians, Ottomans, and Russians, Christian faith became intertwined with national identity; freed from communist suppression, the revival of faith became especially meaningful, the Georgian people intensively seeking institutions that provided stability and moral authority; and, as a logical consequence of all this, the Church is now functioning not only as a religious institution but also as a symbol of historical continuity.
At the same time, there is nothing in the way of religious freedom in Sakartvelo. Like any democratic society, Georgia contains a range of viewpoints: religious conservatives, liberal Christians, secular liberals, atheists, agnostics, people of other religions. And their influence is growing, to say the least!
This said, it has to be recognized too that the high public trust is a strong prerequisite for supposing that the Church will remain an important institution for the foreseeable future, although the trends are such that younger generations often hold more diverse social views.
There goes another interesting trend: because of the long-standing historical roots of the Christian faith in Georgia, identifying as Orthodox often means identifying as Georgian, even for people who rarely attend church. We can easily distinguish between those who just identify as Orthodox, who simply tend to be religious, and those who practice actively.
Isn’t this a genuine freedom of faith?
Op-Ed by Nugzar B. Ruhadze
